


The Apprehension of Lian Harper

by JudeDeluca



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Green Arrow (Comics), Justice League - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Absent Parents, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Halloween, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Pumpkins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-15 22:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21025826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudeDeluca/pseuds/JudeDeluca
Summary: Roy's got a pumpkin to carve for Halloween, but Lian can't decide what image they should put on it.





	The Apprehension of Lian Harper

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift for my friend Levy

Roy positioned the round orange vegetable in the middle of the table in HQ’s kitchen. It was by all accounts a big pumpkin. Not HUGE, but quite noticeable. Perfect for Halloween.

Roy turned to Lian and asked “You wanna make a scary face?”

Lian shifted in her chair as she looked at the pumpkin. She’d been excited about getting to carve a pumpkin for Halloween, but suddenly she wasn’t so enthusiastic. “I dunno.”

Roy wasn’t deterred and cheerfully proposed “How ‘bout a happy face?”

“Nah,” Lian shook her head in response. 

“Gross face,” Roy mentioned.

Lian chewed her bottom lip before saying “Um…”

“A sad face?” Roy asked.

“…”

Roy had to admitted, he was confused by Lian’s apprehension but continued thinking of what would make her happy.“I mean, it doesn’t have to be a face. We could do like a Superman symbol, or like your Uncle Hal’s symbol.”

Lian fidgeted and looked uncomfortable. “D-do I have to pick now?”

Roy tried not to let his daughter see how confused he felt, but assured her “No, Lian. Take all the time you need.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Lian hopped out of her chair and made her way out of the kitchen rather quickly. “I’m gonna do my reading homework for a bit.”

“Kay,” Roy answered but by the time he did Lian had already left the room. He looked at the pumpkin and scratched the back of his head, saying to himself “Well that was weird.”

A few hours later, after the two had eaten dinner with the rest of the Titans and were watching a movie in the den, Lian snuggled up to her dad’s side, she asked him the question that had been bothering her all day.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Etai Yazi?” Roy replied as he lowered the volume on the TV.

“I-I think I know what I wanna draw on our pumpkin,” Lian told him.

“Cool.”

“But I dunno if you’ll like it.”

That confusion returned as Roy tried to assure his daughter “Lian, I said you’d get to pick and I meant it. As long as it’s nothing mean or offensive.”

Lian hugged a pillow to her chest and avoided her dad’s gaze, saying “Yeah, but I’m afraid you might get mad anyway.”

“Why would I get mad?” Roy didn’t bother to appear anything but puzzled.

“…”

Roy shut the TV off and gave Lian his full attention. “Lian is something wrong?”

“Um…” Lian buried her face in the pillow.

Roy sighed. “Lian.”

“Mhm.” Her response was muffled.

“What?”

“Mmm.” Muffled, but louder.

“Lian please talk to me,” Roy gently asked as he put his hands on Lian’s shoulders.

“MOMMY,” Lian practically shouted as she threw the pillow on the floor.

“Huh?” Roy was taken aback at the mention of Jade, Lian’s mother, who wasn’t in their lives right now due to... reasons. “What about her?”

“I-I wanna do a picture of Mommy on our pumpkin for Halloween,” Lian looked at her dad with guilty emotions in her eyes. “I-is that okay?”

“Of course,” Roy answered. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Cuz, well, w-we don’t talk about her…” Lian’s lip quivered a bit. “And I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“Oh princess,” Roy hugged her as he said “We can totally do a picture of Mommy. It’s not a problem.”

“Can we do a picture of her as Mommy? Not as Cheshire?” Lian added.

“Whatever you wanna do, Lian,” Roy gently rocked her back and forth as he tried to dispel her discomfort. “We can use the photo in your room. We’ll do it tomorrow, okay? And we can talk about her as much as you want, okay?”

Lian chose to remain silent for a minute.

“Is that okay, Lian?” Roy asked.

“Yes,” Lian whispered. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“Anything for you, Lian.”


End file.
